Dolphin Sculpture by Borsheim

"Dolphin Play"

This stone sculpture was a joy to carve. This particular piece of alabaster from Utah is a
warm brown (I think of it as sort of a root-beer color) with lots of "texture". I was thrilled to
discover the white markings on each tip at the end of the dolphin fluke.

Other views of the stone work-in-progress are shown below.

More Views of the Stone Carving "Dolphin Play":

Order a 4.25-inch by 4.25-inch ceramic tile coaster of "Dolphin Play"
(pictured left) by clicking here.

Prior to Carving the Stone Dolphin Sculpture

The piece of Utah alabaster shown below started off at 196 pounds.
I do not know what it weighs now that the stone has been carved.

All artworks start with an idea and this one was the idea of a circle. Above left you can see
how I have begun the composition and then wetted the stone to look at patterns within the stone.
My companion Zac is hanging out with me. He died less than a month after this image was taken and
I sorely miss his company. The image on the right is of my working on the round shape with a
cheap chisel since my real one had a part broken. I could not stand to stop work just then, so I
grabbed another stone cutting tool.

Further development is seen below, with the image on the right showing how I chose to
manipulate the proper dolphin anatomy (in the fin) to emphasize the idea of the circle.